After losing consciousness for 24 minutes, a woman in the United States shared her near-death experience. Lauren Canaday, an author, was declared “clinically dead” after her heart stopped beating. She was resuscitated after nearly 30 minutes and stated that she had lost memory of the previous week after waking up. All of this was revealed by Ms. Canaday during an ‘Ask Me Anything’ session that is currently trending on Reddit. According to the woman, she was rushed to the hospital and was in a coma for two days before waking up.
Ms. Canaday also thanked her husband for starting CPR early and stated that he would be her “hero” forever.
“I went into sudden cardiac arrest at home this past February; my husband called 911 and started CPR. It took 24 minutes for EMTs to resuscitate me. After 9 days in the ICU, I was declared ‘cognitively intact’ and have no visible brain damage on MRIs,” Ms. Canaday said in the Reddit post.
Lauren Canaday experienced the Lazarus effect, also known as autoresuscitation
Users were curious about her experience and asked several questions about what happened right after she collapsed and the tests she underwent.
Ms. Canaday stated that her electroencephalogram (a test that measures electrical activity in the brain) came back normal even though she had an epileptic seizure for more than 30 minutes immediately following resuscitation.
“My husband did CPR for 4 minutes, and the operator told him what to do; he’d never done it and hadn’t been certified in a long time. Luckily, we are close to a fire station, and EMTs arrived in 4 minutes to take over and use the paddles!” she added.
In response to one user, the author stated that paramedics informed her that her cardiac arrest was caused by COVID complications, for which she tested positive when admitted to the ICU.
In clinical terms, Ms. Canaday experienced the Lazarus effect, also known as autoresuscitation. This unusual occurrence occurs when a patient “declared dead from cardiac arrest suddenly shows signs of life,” giving the impression that they have risen from the dead despite never actually dying.
According to the New York Post, Ms. Canaday’s case is fascinating because the majority of people do not live long after their resurrection. Only 18 people recovered completely from the 65 documented cases between 1982 and 2018.
The most fascinating part of her experience was the feeling of “extreme peace,” which she said stayed with her for a “few weeks upon waking.”. She also clarified that she didn’t see her life flashing before her eyes—a symptom described by many.
Finally, Canaday claims that her brief death has given her a new perspective on life.
“I feel like there’s a very thin line between life and death, and while I’m grateful to have more time with friends and family, I don’t feel worried about death anymore,” she went on to say. “I’m much more worried about the pain often experience in life …”
